The Service national de la jeunesse (SNJ, or National Youth Service), in collaboration with Luxembourg’s statistics bureau Statec and members of the scientific council, created a 28-question survey that was sent to parents with children who were four years old or younger. Participants were asked about languages spoken at home, languages used in daycare, as well as demographic information.
In total, 8,342 parents living in Luxembourg responded to the survey, providing information about language use amongst 10,090 children.
A press release that accompanied the noted that “despite the great diversity of languages present in the country, the majority of children aged 0 to 4 are in contact with Luxembourgish on a daily basis at home, whether through discussions with parents and/or siblings, reading, singing or television.”
Overall, 124 different languages were mentioned by parents during the survey. Here are a few takeaways from the report.
65.74% hear two or more languages at home
Nearly two-thirds (65.74%) of children hear their parents speak to them in two or more languages, found the survey.
That corresponds to 6,630 children. In this group of children, French (63.11%) and Luxembourgish (49.08%) are the most frequently heard languages, and the most common combinations are Luxembourgish and French, followed by French with English.
Among the remaining 3,460 children who only hear one language spoken by their parents, Luxembourgish is the most common language (43.61%).
60.37% of children speak two or more languages with parents
Of the 8,512 children who were able to speak at the time of the survey, 5,139 of them (60.37%) spoke two or more languages with their parents. French and Luxembourgish were the most commonly used.
The remaining 3,373 children (39.63%) spoke one language with their parents. 41.95% of them used Luxembourgish and 22.03% spoke French.
However, when looking at the languages that children use with their siblings, the survey found that 67.17% use only one language when speaking with brothers and sisters. Amongst these children, the most commonly used language was Luxembourgish (38.30%), followed by French (20.70%), Portuguese (13.40%), Italian (4.60%), English (3.30%), Spanish (2.60%), German (1.90%) or another language (15.20%).
German more common when reading books
Amongst respondents, the parents of 9,688 children read books to their children. 65.83% of children hear these stories in two or more languages, found the survey The remaining 34.18% hear stories in only one language.
Parents said they read to their children in 81 different languages, with French, Luxembourgish and German the most common. “With regard to reading, German--the language of literacy in primary education--gains importance,” said the report.
When parents sing to their children, French is the most commonly used language. 63.87% of children hear songs sung in French, followed by English (45.50%), Luxembourgish (40.03%), German (35.65%) and Portuguese (18.70%).
Luxembourgish drops in the ranking of languages heard by children on television. 55.30% of children watch (and listen to) television in French, 45.62% in German, 42.03% in English, 19.08% in Luxembourgish and 17.61% in Portuguese. “The decline of Luxembourgish in the ranking shows that it would be important to have more television programs for children in Luxembourgish,” said the report.
Most children in contact with French, Luxembourgish at home
Of the 124 languages cited by respondents in the report, Luxembourgish, French, German, English and Portuguese were the most commonly mentioned.
More than half of children come into contact with French (61.5%) and/or Luxembourgish (55.7%) in the family environment, found the survey.
When taking reading into account, however, children’s exposure to French and German increases.
Considering the languages in which children hear songs and watch TV, exposure to English and German increase.
Finally, daycare facilities are where children are more exposed to the Luxembourgish language, said the report.
Find the National Youth Service’s full report .